Minnesota is home to 146 species of butterfly and as many as 2500 species of moths. Learn how you can help these beautiful creatures!
If you want to start with the brightest and the biggest, the giant swallowtail is the largest butterfly in North America and a new arrival in Minnesota, having gradually moved north in recent decades with the warming climate. The females’ wings can span more than seven inches and adults enjoy nectar from a variety of flowers, including swamp milkweed and goldenrod. Giant swallowtails lay their eggs on prickly ash and, amusingly, their caterpillars are camouflaged to look like bird poop.
On the other end of the size spectrum, many of the tiniest butterflies in Minnesota have wings that span less than an inch and most spend their lives in the prairie. Unfortunately, many prairie butterflies have been driven nearly to extinction in the past twenty years, due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The only remaining population of the Karner Blue butterfly in Minnesota is found along an unpaved township road in the southwestern corner of the state where wild blue lupine grows in scattered patches of oak savanna and sand barrens. The Poweshiek skipperling, with its tiny orange and brown wings, was last seen in Minnesota in 2008 and the only known populations remaining in North America are located in one Michigan county, one prairie complex in Manitoba, and (perhaps) one location in Wisconsin. Likewise, the Dakota skipper was once plentiful in Minnesota but virtually disappeared in the early 2000s. Currently, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is working with the Minnesota Zoo and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to re-establish a self-sustaining Dakota skipper population in Glacial Lakes State Park in western Minnesota.
How can you help to support butterflies and other pollinators?
The single most important thing you can do to protect pollinators is to plant and preserve native habitat on your land and in your community. If you have a yard of your own, there are numerous resources for native planting projects at the Washington Conservation District website (www.mnwcd.org/planting-for-clean-water) including a link to sign-up for a free site visit; pollinator garden designs for sun, shade, and raingardens; a series of short how-to videos; and recordings from full-length workshops. Head to the events page of this same website to find info about upcoming native plant sales in May and June. The www.BlueThumb.org website also offers additional resources, including a native plant finder tool and a link to apply for a $400 “Lawns to Legumes” grant.
Beyond your own home and yard, you can also help to restore native habitat in community parks. For example, Pollinator Friendly Alliance, Washington County Parks, Washington Conservation District, and Wild Ones – St. Croix Oak Savanna are currently seeking volunteers to help plant more than 1000 native plants at Lake Elmo Park reserve on Saturday, May 4 at 11am. Participants will learn about pollinators and their habitat during mini demo talks and will help to support habitat restoration efforts that have been ongoing for more than a decade. Visit www.pollinatorfriendly.org to learn more and register.
A final simple action you can take to protect pollinators this spring is to wait to clear out your garden beds and cut down old vegetation until the daytime temperatures are consistently higher than 50° F. Many species of native bees overwinter underground beneath leaf litter or in the hollow stems of plants. Xerces Society recommends waiting until after the apple and pear trees have fully blossomed to clear out gardens in order to protect native bees such as cellophane bees, large and small mining bees, dark sweat bees, blue-green sweat bees, bumblebees, mason bees, and large and small carpenter bees. If you’ve already cut down plant stems, you can spread them loosely in a back corner of the yard in case they still contain sleeping babies.
Not surprisingly, preserving and restoring natural habitat benefits more than just pollinators. By building habitat corridors, you can also help to protect water resources from degradation and ensure a home for other kinds of wildlife, including birds, frogs, turtles, foxes, deer, and more. Plant some flowers and spread some seeds. Then sit back and enjoy a summer full of butterflies and bees.
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